Shawnee Mission Northwest hands SM East its first loss of the season

In their last game, the Shawnee Mission Northwest boys had endured their only loss of the season. That was two and a half weeks ago — plenty of time to think about the defeat.

“The two games you don’t want to lose are the one before Christmas and the one at the end of the season,” Cougars coach Ben Meseke said. “Because the one at the end of the season you’ve got to sit on for a year, and the one before Christmas you’ve got to sit on for two or three weeks and think about it.”

The Cougars can now move on to better thoughts. In its first game since the winter break, SM Northwest picked up a 58-45 win over previously undefeated Shawnee Mission East at home Tuesday night.

“We wanted to come back and set the tone for the second half of our season,” senior guard Ryan Arel said.

Arel helped set the tone for the Cougars early in the second half Tuesday. After SM East cut its deficit to 26-25 on its first possession of the third quarter, SM Northwest responded with 10 straight points. Arel scored five points during the spurt and junior Steve Carver capped the run with a three-pointer for a 36-25 lead.

The Cougars stretched their lead to 12 points a couple of possessions later before the Lancers answered with a 7-0 run of their own. SM East later scored the first four points of the fourth quarter — aided by relentless pursuit around the rim for second-chance opportunities — and drew to within 41-38.

As Meseke recalled, SM Northwest junior Nick Feighner had been beaten on the play, and he was ready to take him out of the game because of it. But as Meseke sent a substitute to the scorer’s table waiting to check in, Feighner quickly changed his coach’s mind.

Feighner scored his only four points of the game on back-to-back possessions, including a quick steal and conversion that stretched the Cougars’ lead back to seven points.

“I thought that was a turning point in the game,” Arel said.

SM Northwest, 5-1, sealed the game at the foul line. Carver led the Cougars with 16 points, Arel had 14 and senior Pat Daly added nine on three three-pointers.

The loss drops SM East to 4-1, though the game does not count toward the Sunflower League standings because the teams play again later in the season.

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